Set Me Free

Chapter 7. To New Heights

A/N: Thank you, Dyjaszka12, Katsuki_and_Kirishima, FloofyCopy, and Sunflowerice for reviewing; it means a lot to me.

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"Good heart, bad temper."

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Bakugou didn't trust that they were far enough away from the shitfest they left behind to camp near the village, so despite recent...developments, he decided to get out of dodge and set a steady pace north.

With the map he snagged and the setting sun as a compass, he deemed it right to start making his way back to the guild. If they kept up a steady pace and didn't run into any complications, he estimated that they could make it back within a week or so, but that was under the best of conditions.

Not to mention the vines kept getting thicker and thicker; soon he would have to resort to cutting his way through. Originally, it was easier when Red was crashing through everything; loud as she was, it was useful.

"It smells like it's going to rain."

"Great."

Bakugou looked over his shoulder at his now less scaly travelling 'companion' as she sniffed the air. After the initial shock, he hadn't said much on the matter, and she had been following silently for the past few hours; it seemed she was giving him time to process the information.

an hour prior

"I thought you said to stop talking."

"Well now that I'm telling you to talk, what the shit is this?" He narrowed his eyes at the now fidgety redhead.

"I thought," Kirishima looked up at him and grinned, "if I looked like this, I could come with you to human places!"

"Tch, that's not what I'm asking, moron; how are you able to do...this?" Bakugou reached over and roughly tugged on a short spiked red strand, frowning as he noticed that the ends seemed to be dried and slightly shrivelled, like they had been burned.

"I've never heard of a dragon being able to take on different forms; changing sizes is common, but not like this." The blonde released her hair, saying, "Fuck happened. Did you catch fire or something?"

"Ah! It kept getting caught on everything, so I tried to make it like yours." She tugged on the same strand as he had, crinkling her nose and squinting to see.

Studying the shaggy, spiked-out shoulder-length hair, he raised an eyebrow. Did she burn her hair off? It seems she wasn't so fireproof anymore; he had assumed such traits would carry over, like her sense of smell.

"Can others do this too, or what?"

"Hmm, some. Not sure how many of us are left with the blood trait." She looked up slightly in thought. "Dad could." If he cared, maybe Bakugou would have asked about the sad glint hidden behind her smile in that moment.

Present time

They decided to set off not soon after; he decided, and she was left with the choice to follow or not. The blonde clicked his tongue as he soon felt the first few drops of icy liquid hit his cheeks and run along the line of his jaw.

Fucking fantastic.

Rain meant flash flooding around there, if he remembered correctly, which he usually did.meaning that sleeping would risk being washed away in the night; they needed to clear the forest quickly. Why anyone chose to live around there was beyond him.

Whatever the case, a bit of water never hurt anyone, and he would be damned if he was going to slow down because of a little water. Bakugou glanced at Kirishima as the rain started to pick up and caught her shaking her head to flick her hair away from sticking to her face before she met his eyes. The blonde was quick to focus forward. He was definitely going to need to get her some clothes soon.

She grinned, showing off her abnormally sharp teeth. "Ne, why don't we just fly out of here; you could ride me?" Bakugou nearly choked on his own breath.

"No fucking way." Bakugou continued without missing a step.

Kirishima cocked her head to the side. "Why not? Don't like heights?"

"The fuck are you on about now? Shut up and walk or I'll leave you behind."

Kirishima grabbed onto his sleeve. "I'll be a steed that never falters. It doesn't matter who, I can fight for you."

The blonde turned, and to her surprise, he looked angry. "Do I look like I need someone to fight my battles for me? Don't you fucking think that just because you helped me out once that I owe you anything." Bakugou shook her off, saying, "As far as I see it, I freed you first."

"I didn't mean it like that." Kirishima swallowed, "I want to fight for you, with you. The way you fought, even though you were outnumbered, you didn't back down. "I want to be unbreakable," she said as she gripped his shoulder.Let these wings that you have unshackled be used as if they were your own."

Bakugou searched her eyes, and she could have sworn that he would see through to her soul, and she felt completely exposed. However, she didn't falter, and Bakugou could have sworn he saw fire in her depths.

She grinned at the look of intrigue. "Let's go charging into battle together."

Katsuki felt something spark in the core of his being. Damn it, she had him.

"Fine, just remember you signed up for this. Don't go backing out on me, or I'll kill you myself. "If you want me to use you, then you better understand what that means." The blonde sighed when her face lit up, and then seconds later, his lit up in a different way.

Kirishima had torn off the cloak so fast that she nearly toppled over and threw it to him unceremoniously, naked once again. He had a feeling this was going to become a habit if she stuck around like she said she would.

"The fuck?-" He tore the cloth off his head only to wince when he found himself engulfed in a bright red light and was forced to step back as something almost knocked him off his feet, only saved by his reflexes.

The light faded away, and in the woman's place was a massive lump of glimmering scarlet, a sight that was more familiar to him than the female form. She now towered above him in a size that was far superior to what he remembered.

Having achieved her goal, Kirishima shrank back to her normal size, leaving a clearing above them after spreading the leaves and broken branches. Though he was questioning if it was enough to fly through, he doubted it.

Wasting no time, Kirishima shifted until her neck was outstretched to the side and lowered to his level. When he raised an eyebrow, she moved forward to nudge him, almost knocking him on his ass for the second time.

Bakugou assumed she was prompting him in case he changed his mind. Whatever the case, he wasn't backing down either way. Swiftly he climbed up and he found his place in the place between her wings, briefly wondering if he should tie a rope as a handhold—a thought he didn't have the chance to act upon.

If anything, He was right about the gap not being big enough to fly through as the dragon shot into the sky with that impressive speed of hers, higher and higher into the air—without him.

"You shitty lizard!" A loud bellow from beneath caught her attention, and Kirishima looked down to see a blonde and brown form caught among the trees and vines on the treetops. Oops.

She dove back down, and despite his indignant cry, Kirishima pricked him out of the leaves and carried him away in her talons. He seemed angry, so Kirishima thought it best to let him cool off before landing to let him back up properly.

She had been quick to figure out his temper was as vast as the skies they were conquering and would require tact to navigate; maybe she was better off ignoring it like she had been. Oddly, she didn't seem to mind; he was full of life and he didn't hold anything back, even if he didn't come with a filter.

Kirishima found that she liked that.

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